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Peter Baum was well aware of how awful the Ohio Machine were in its first two seasons in Major
League Lacrosse as an expansion team.

The franchise made Baum the first overall pick in the 2012 draft because of a last-place, 2-12
record. Another 2-12 record followed last season, when commitments prevented him from playing.
Baum, who won the Tewaaraton Trophy — as college lacrosse’s top player — as a senior at Colgate,
reported to training camp this spring ready to put a shovelful of dirt on the past.

“I never thought about what happened before,” he said. “It was easy not to get caught up in that
because I wasn’t here. I saw Tom Schreiber was joining us. He’s a great player. I saw Kyle Harrison
would be playing for us. He’s a legend. Things were going to change.”

With Baum leading the league with 29 goals and four teammates in the top 21 in scoring, the
Machine has won two straight games and three of its past five, heading into a game against the
Denver Outlaws today at Ohio Wesleyan’s Selby Stadium.

The team that couldn’t shoot straight has been transformed into a contender for one of four
playoff spots with three games remaining. Denver and Rochester lead MLL with 8-3 records, New York
is third at 7-4, and Ohio and Boston are 5-6.

Machine coach Bear Davis said the players no longer simply hope to win.

“We’re not an expansion team anymore,” he said. “We no longer make excuses for losses. We’re
looking for results. It has been about the coaching staff, the players and the front office — right
down to the ticket office. We trust one another. Everything is moving forward.”

In a league that is geared toward scoring with a 60-second shot clock, the Machine leads MLL
with 147 goals.

At the beginning of the season, Davis was concerned because so few attackers had professional
experience.

“I told the defense we had to keep getting the offense the ball,” he said. “I knew we had
talent, but we didn’t have the experience. We said there would be negatives and that we had to
follow the negatives with positives.”

Denver defeated Ohio 14-13 in the first meeting on April 4. It will be facing an improved team,
though.

“Our guys understand what’s on the line, but we don’t talk about it that much,” Davis said. “It’s
about doing. The playoff picture will take care of itself if we take care of ourselves.”

Goalkeeper Brian Phipps might be enjoying the recent success more than anyone. He was the ninth
player taken overall in the expansion draft. He had a 1-5 record the first season and was 1-7 last
season.

“I’ve been through it all,” said Phipps, who also is an assistant lacrosse coach at Georgetown. “
What has changed is that everybody in the locker room has so much energy and talent. This year,
the mentality is so different. It has been that way since training camp. We saw we were getting
closer last year. Now, we go out not happy to win, but expecting to win.”

Phipps stopped short of saying the Machine has arrived.

“We have a ways to go yet,” he said. “These are better times for the organization. We’re doing
it the right way. This is an organization that players want to play for now.”

Playing in the MLL is a major commitment. Players fly to the site of games on Friday, get in a
brief practice and play the next day.

Baum, who is a sales director for the lacrosse equipment company Adrenaline, routinely travels
cross-country from San Diego.

“It can be difficult,” he said, “but you think too much about all that and you run into
problems. Our team has a lot of fun together. We play for each other. We haven’t accomplished that
much, and that’s also what pushes us.”